NIGHT MOVES
by RedNightBird
Summary: Orig. Published 2011. The AU sequel to the "LOVE" series.


**Previously in the world of RedNightBird:**

**Mick's POV:**

So…what's the Emily Post guideline on a Vampire's first feeding? Is a burp a sign of satisfaction?

I lay there while she stretched; she was feeling her body move over the sheets for the first time. Rolling right and left, she blinked her eyes and peered out into the night…..her tongue moved over her teeth, seeking her new additions, wanting to feel them for herself. She seemed restless until she desired to move off the bed; with a bound she nearly hit the wall 10 feet away. She caught herself at the wall of mirrors and viewed her vampire self for the first time.

_**Walking side by side with death the devil mocks their every step**_

_**The snow drives back the foot that's slow, the dogs of doom are howling more**_

_**They carry news that must get through to build a dream for me and you**_

_**They choose the path that no one goes**_

"Oh, my god, Mick…how do you do this? How can you deal with it all?" she ran the flat of her palms over her flesh, rubbing upward to feel the velvet flesh under her breasts and the puckered nipples. She stroked her nipples between her fingers and threw back her head in the ecstasy vampires understood. I left behind her, pressing against her, placing my hands on her hips, peering over her shoulder into the mirror….seeing the both of us strong and fully realized for eternity.

_**They hold no quarter,**_

_**They ask no quarter,**_

_**They hold no quarter,**_

_**They ask no quarter...**_

_**They think about no quarter...**_

_**With no quarter . . . . . quarter.**_

_**Oh No...**_

* * *

**Night Moves, Part 1**

Later the evening of the turn,

**Mick's POV:**

"I can see myself" Beth laughed, as if she bought into an old wive's tale about vampires and their reflections. She peered close in the mirror, inspecting where crow's feet had one day been expected. Firm, young flesh smiled back at her.

"You always saw me in mirrors didn't you?" Otherwise how would I comb my hair or shave?" I laughed at her vanity.

"Well I just thought I'd see myself differently" she turned and watched her naked profile, sucking in her tiny tummy to see the strong line of flesh from her ankle to her tight buttock.

Our soundtrack tonight…(Stevie Wonder - All I Do)

**_You made my soul a burning fire, You're getting to be my one desire_**

**_You're getting to be all that matters to me And let me tell you girl_**

**_I hope and pray each day I live A little more love I'll have to give_**

**_A little more love that's devoted and true 'Cause all I do is think about you_**

I paddled her once on her fanny and proclaimed "You're perfect! Now let's get a shower, we need to get you more to eat and we have some vamps that want to meet you!"

What a difference from the shower hours ago….now she moved slowly and eyed me in wonder; all the while touching the bronze glazed tile on the walls and catching the rain like drops in the flat of her open palm…all these stimulations so intense they baffled her…. She stared in wide eyed wonder as the watched the water slide in drops off her fingertips.

I enjoyed watching her vampire senses awakening, knowing full well I had missed this period…as I cowered from my wife in the darkened edges of the hotel room damning her for what she had done to me. Tonight my recent bride and I reveled in what I made her. In her infancy she was innocent and unaware of the duplicities awaiting discovery outside our bedroom.

_**All I do Oh baby Is think about you, Think about you baby, All I do m-m-m-m Is think about you**_

I laid out an ivory silk gown and robe that matched my pajamas, knowing her newly sensitive skin could tolerate no less that she softest silk dressing. All that sun for nothing, the ivory nearly matched her smooth skin's luster. I pulled on my pajamas, the two of us looking pretty relaxed for that we had been through.

I felt Josef waiting for us in the east wing library along with Jack Lafitte, Benjamin Butler and Charlotte Badger. They had stopped at Josef's to welcome Beth into the "family" although I wasn't sure if they were also curious about the quality of my work. Beth towel dried her hair and slid into her silks. She marveled at how she felt it slide over her skin, "I don't have a bra or panties" she seemed shocked to go commando.

"You wouldn't want them tonight, too constricting for a new vamp. You'll get used to regular clothes in a month or so." I held the door open for her and we padded barefoot to meet our guests. Beth was effectively 6 hours or so old and I couldn't thrust her around humans I wanted to socialize her with vamps, especially older vamps. I felt once Josef greeted her with a "refreshment" she'd be OK, in the past few weeks she had been circulating with more vamps than humans,

_**Baby just suppose I should happen to cross your mind**_

_**And by some chance a boy like me you're really been trying to find**_

_**Well let me tell you girl think of how exciting it would be**_

_**If you should discover you feel like me**_

_**If you should discover this dream is for two**_

The door opened to dim lights and our audience. Josef personally crossed the room with arms extended to embrace the both of us at once.

"Beth, dear, you look ravishing. If he EVER gives you any crap I have a freezer here ready for your initials" Josef purred into her ear just loud enough for me to hear.

My Sire behavior began to kick and a rumble thrust from my chest and my eyes silvered – just a reflex action I barely recalled commanding.

"Easy, Dad, I do not intend to date your fledgling, just make her feel welcome and safe" Josef scoffed as I reverted back to normal.

"My WIFE, Josef, she's my WIFE" I managed to grin, nodding my head as we passed him to take a seat together.

Josef winked at me as he brought us a tall tumbler of blood. Beth accepted it and vamped immediately, her free hand flying to cover her mouth,

"Oops, I guess I need to watch that" realizing she didn't need fangs to drink from a glass. The baby fangs clanked on the glass as she attempted to drink almost spilling some blood. The fangs receded and she drank with confidence, smiling after her first mouthful. Her satisfaction at the taste registered in her eyes then they nearly rolled back in her head with ecstasy.

_**We'll I'm gonna tell you girl I'd light a candle every day**_

_**And pray that you'll always feel this way**_

_**And pray that our love will forever be new**_

_**'Cause all I do is think about you**_

Jack was nodding in a general way as he drank his fresh from the vein sangria. Something about Benjamin Butler just didn't sit right with me…He's just not a square deal kind of guy I thought as I watched him fiddle with his glass of single malt and then there was Charlotte Badger, quietly moving around the room as they waited for us. She's a quiet one, wandering from portrait to portrait of Josef as he's moved thru time. Funny how he's bribed the artists to change subtle features so no one suspects the subjects in all these works of art are the same man . . . . . .

I thanked each of them with a hearty handshake; their decision to forgo the probationary period was a great gift. It developed into a light chat about their turnings, Jack lamented that the sailing ships of yore were hot muggy confines for a young vamp "Any rumor of buried treasure is a fallacy, I spent it all on rum and women, those Louisiana women just draw it out of ya'"

Mid conversation I noticed Beth's empty glass and her half nervous eyes, darting over the room.

"Still hungry, Beth?" I whispered our heads together for seconds. She nodded and I rose to pour another tumbler for my hungry baby. In the reflection of the mirror over the bar I caught Ben's expression as his eyes traveled over Beth….then noticed his sudden change of expression when I turned to deliver her drink….his behavior defied common sense.

He was working his way under my skin in the worst way. Was Ben expecting quid pro quo for the probation suspension?

Josef's resources back us up as it was agreed we'd segregate Beth for about a month depending on how her feeding from live donors progressed. I guess what we're going to save on Hot Water Heaters we can spend on Freshies. As conversations began again between the 6 of us I sat back and watched Beth's sense of humor and personality renew. . . .

I was beginning to see my Beth again, just with sharper teeth.

About an hour later she began to lose interest in talk. Without my immediate notice she had gotten up and padded from window to window, finally parting the velvet drapes at the 3rd window. She attempted to scent the night and was thwarted by the triple pane heavy UV glass in the mansion windows. Without the ability to scent, she pressed her cheek to the cool glass and closed her eyes. I had started to watch Beth and Jack started to watch me watching her.

"Mon frere, it appears she wants to hunt", he nodded to Beth. I leaned to Jack and shook my head, "It's too soon, plus we have no need to hunt, we have food".

"It is instinct, my man. She seeks what is primal to our nature…she is young, yet she is surely one of us" We watched Beth place her flat palms against the window pain as if to feel the night outside. Her eyes closed and she purred as a tiny kitten would. I walked behind her, gently laying against her, she turned and scented me.

"Mick, I want to go out, when will we go out?…I want to feel the night around me" she begged quietly.

I felt mean drawing her away from the window, redrawing the drapes to distract her, "Beth, its best we wait a few days. How about another glass and we retire to the bedroom?"

Our guests realized Beth's best behavior was probably behind her…..she was growing weary and needed the solitary peace I could give her.

I shook hands down the line and we made our "goodnights".

As we tread so slowly back to the suite, she asked, "How did I do? Will I get to feed fresh tomorrow?"

Damn….the girl is making progress. At think point I was hovering in the darkness of a dumpster while my wife/sire dragged a scared woman to me. In my confusion I drained the poor woman and the Cleaner's had work that night.

Although we left for the peace of our suite I figured the party would go on….It's just I had other considerations on my mind and in my arms.

**Josef's POV:**

Damn, what a lucky fucker that Mick is . . . . Sure he had to put up with Coraline for 33 years or so…..and now he has this, this goddess forever. I nearly cut thru my palms sitting there watching them. I must be earning my Karma points somewhere for helping Mick with his forever wife, I am just befuddled.

I'm a magnate of business, I'm moving the economy on a daily basis with a single phone call and when I walk these guests to the front door I'm taking a solitary walk to the private bedroom I share with my 400 years of missed opportunities. What's wrong with this picture?

All I do Oh baby Is think about you I think about you All I do Yeah, baby Is think about you

Gonna tell you girl I'd light a candle every day And pray that you'll always feel this way

And pray that our love will forever be new

**Benjamin's POV:**

How sweet it is that our approved turn has become such a spirited fledgling in such short time. Imagine that Coraline's gutless wonder has brought Beth thru to the other side. Evidently St John has a penchant for strong women…..this is number 2 and she hasn't broken him yet.

What has occurred in his miserable existence that St John finally embraced his dark side after 56 years of listening for the sound of heart beats?

I'm gonna tell you girl If I cannot have you for my own I'd rather be lonely and all alone

I'd rather keep thinking the way that I do 'Cause all I do is think about you

**Mick's POV:**

We had worn each other down in the throes of the turn…now we sought the peace of silent hearts, cool flesh touching cool flesh, no urgency no race for the end. We undressed each other smiling with eyes meeting deep, hands brushing lightly.

I lifted Beth into the double wide freezer and attempted to explain our simple this really was, "You just lay down and close your eyes….your mind will be at peace in no time…..we have a timer that will let us know when dusk falls. And yes….this lid pops up if you happen to sit up…no goose eggs on your noggin", I grinned as I brushed the hair out of her face.

There we were…entwined in each other's arms for the first time in sub zero oblivion. After being dead for so many decades I am finally inside heaven's gate.

_**- Oh All I do is think about you**_

v v v v v v v v


End file.
